The Netter illustrations are appreciated not only for their aesthetic qualities, but, more importantly, for their intellectual content. As Dr. Netter wrote in 1949 “clarification of a subject is the aim and goal of illustration. No matter how beautifully painted, how delicately and subtly rendered a subject may be, it is of little value as a medical illustration if it does not serve to make clear some medical point.” Dr. Netter’s planning, conception, point of view, and approach are what inform his paintings and what make them so intellectually valuable.
Frank H. Netter, MD, physician and artist, died in 1991